In October 2021, an eight-storeyed building in Shimla collapsed after heavy rains triggered a landslide. The building was evacuated well before the collapse. But the tragedy exposed the pressure being…
Gujarat’s diverse geographical landscapes are home to several indigenous communities pursuing traditional occupations. The hilly terrain in the state’s eastern, northern and southern belts comprise significant tribal populations. The western…
Following pressure from conservationists and NGOs, Nepal's government recently adopted guidelines to make infrastructure such as roads, dams and railway lines wildlife-friendly. But not all wildlife have been included, with…
On May 9, during regular patrolling on elephants at Orang National Park in Assam, forest guards found a rhinoceros bleeding from the nose and its signature horn missing. It was…
Any construction within an eco-sensitive zone of a protected area, whether a national park or bird sanctuary, is always a contentious issue but what is the way forward when a…
All over Sri Lanka, vehicles are queuing up in long lines for what's left of the high-priced fuel in beleaguered gas stations. Among them are a few Department of Wildlife…
On April 2, there was a widespread sensation in the Dooars region of West Bengal over the sighting of kangaroos in different parts of the area. Initially, a team from…
Human-Animal Conflict (HAC) is a complex issue that needs legislative backing for effective management, a parliamentary panel has noted. Indicating that it is as serious an issue as hunting, the…
This summer it will be thirty years since the Rio Earth Summit. Unlike the earlier decadal anniversaries, this year the United Nations is not celebrating an event to mark the…
The revision of the formula to calculate how India assesses the value of its forests was long pending. In January 2022, an expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court of…
More than a decade ago, India embarked on a journey to establish a world-class scientific project, the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), a particle physics research project, in Tamil Nadu. But…
The Similipal biosphere reserve in the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha was ravaged by devastating forest fires last year in February-March, affecting close to one-third of the area of the Similipal…
In a secretly recorded video, a man is heard confidently saying, “I have 560 pieces of live tortoises of size 5-12 centimetres [2-5 inches] and the tortoises can be sent…
It was a calm October night over Sri Lanka’s northern seas, the silence broken only by the sound of a rapidly approaching motorboat from India. In Kalpitiya, a town further…
Over the past few months, India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has proposed amendments to two key legislations – the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 and the…
The Indian government recently came out with the India State of Forest Report (ISFR 2021), the biennial national forest cover report, claiming a marginal increase of 2,261 square kilometres in…
In the run-up to the 2022 state elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Sawant-led state government has made a slew of announcements towards resuming iron ore mining in…
On Monday, the Indian government referred the Biological Diversity Act Amendment Bill (2021) to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The Bill was developed to amend certain provisions of the Biological…
In Puthiravali, a village in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, villagers are hopeful that Haldia Petrochemical Ltd.'s takeover of Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd.’s (NOCL) dysfunctional oil refinery will result in…
From fighting for the protection of migratory birds in northeast India to the protection of the rights of mango farmers in western India, the duo of Ritwick Dutta and Rahul…
